history

History

The Museum of Craft and Design opened in 2004 on Sutter Street, in San Francisco’s Union Square District, as the San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design. In the summer of 2010, an unfortunate series of events led to the Museum temporarily being without a permanent home. Through a nimble and resilient response to these events from the Board and staff, the organization devised a plan to expand MCD’s audience base within the city and to increase public awareness of its programs and mission.

In the fall of 2010, MCD launched the first of a series of pop-up museums—exhibitions, educational programs, and retail store—in temporary locations throughout San Francisco. We strategically chose neighborhoods where San Franciscans live, work, and play, enabling MCD to bring the works of truly exemplary artists from local, national and international craft and design scenes right into the midst of the city’s many vibrant communities. Importantly, this initiative allowed us to retain most of our staff and to continue our contribution to San Francisco’s art community while we searched for a building to purchase as a permanent home.

In February 2012, MCD announced a move to the historic Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco. Our new home is at 2569 Third Street in the American Industrial Center and opened to the public in April 2013. Our new location allowed us to expand our exhibition space and to build our first-ever dedicated space for public programming, like our popular MakeArt workshops for children and special events. We believe our addition to the neighborhood will support the continued transformation of Dogpatch into a thriving enclave for arts, culture, dining and entertainment.

Photo: Detail of TRILUX, by Nataly Gattegno and Jason Kelly Johnson, part of Place Making: Installations at Hayes and Octavia. Photography: Adam Willis.